


Running Boldly Forward

by pherryt



Category: Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Enterprise, Probably Bad Science, TARDIS - Freeform, black holes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5166158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor unintentionally crosses dimensions and lands on board the Enterprise and leaves just as quickly, leaving behind a whirlwind of confusion....then he does it again.</p>
<p>(sorry, I suck at summaries...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1: Who Was That Strange Man?

**Author's Note:**

> This Doctor Who / Star Trek crossover has 3 parts and is intended as a short comedy (but yeah, i know humor is subjective, hopefully you think the characters were well captured at least) and was also originally intended to end RIGHT HERE. Soooo....you can stop at part 1 if you want, or you can continue on to parts 2 and 3.
> 
> Standard Copyright Disclaimer: All Star Trek and Dr Who characters are very obviously not mine but belong to their respective studios/creators. This is for fun and I make no profit off it.
> 
> Additional Disclaimers: I know nothing of science and would have no idea about the actual viability of any of this. In all seriousness, it is just a means to an end and I was having fun. I hope we can all suspend our disbelief and enjoy it anyway. 
> 
> This is my first of only 2 fanfics i have ever written (no idea if I'll ever write more) and i have no idea where it came from but i had a lot of fun doing it and I just had to share it. Originally posted to my DA site http://dragonpress.deviantart.com/

Part 1: Who Was That Strange Man?

The scene opens into a circular room with levels. There is only one door at the back of the room. It must be the back because everyone's facing away from it. Directly opposite the doors is a large window, or a screen perhaps, showing just the vastness of space – a starry field as far as the eye can see.

Ranging around the curve of the wall between the door and the window, on both sides, is a ledge of seats and stations filled with screens, lights and buttons. Various people in both red and blue clothes are sitting or standing at the stations.

Going past the rail of the ledge and the short step down into the center area are three people at two free standing stations. In the front, sitting side by side, are two young, black haired fellows, one of them Asian – maybe Japanese.

Behind them, like a king in his throne, sits a handsome, dirty blonde man in a gold shirt, smiling at the pretty young woman who has just presented him with a metal pad. He opens his mouth to speak when he finds himself suddenly cut off by the strangest sound he had ever heard on his bridge.

Everyone who could possibly have some bearing on this immediately springs into action, anticipating his command to find out the cause of the noise. The lovely dark woman in red at one of the stations along the wall just behind him on his right calls out first.

"It is not coming over channels, sir." She pauses, "Or the intercom."

He nods and stabs at the arm of his chair and leans down and in to speak.

"Engineering, report."

"Och, there is nothin' to report, captain. Everythin' is normal down here." Came the confused reply.

"Are you…sure?" he asked as the doors behind him wooshed open, allowing a slightly older man in blue to enter and immediately stop upon hearing the noise. He looks over to the screen as all but one of the rest are now doing.

"Uh, Jim? What in the blazes is that?" All but one stare at the blue box fading in and out, getting more and more solid, the noise louder. Finally it coalesces into a...Police Box as the alarms suddenly sound.

"Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert." The one lone figure still hunched over his station finally straightens up and speaks for the first time.

"Fascinating."

"Is it really? I thought it was more on the verge of strange and confusing myself." Said the newcomer from over by the Captains' chair. The Captain stood up.

"Bones, easy. Spock, how did it get past our shields, what's in it and why, why, why does it say Police Box?" But before anyone could attempt to answer even one of those questions, one of the doors opened and out stepped two people. A handsome young man with slightly wild hair dressed in a blue striped suit and a tan over coat, accompanied by a woman with red hair, dark clothes and large jewelry.

"There you are, Donna, we're on what you would call a proper space ship this time."

"Starship. This is the U.S.S. Enterprise, a Federation Starship and I'm -" the blonde Captain started to say. He wasn't able to get very far.

"We-e-ll, Starship, Spaceship, same difference, really." The man shrugged off with a grin. "Right! Who are all of you then?" The red haired woman aimed a light punch to his shoulder.

"That's a bit rude, don't you think? Not even going to introduce ourselves first? Here we are with a few extra minutes, not running for our lives, and we can't do this properly for once?"

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm the Doctor, and this is Donna Noble and no, we are not together. Everybody always asks that. So who are you again?"

"Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. How did you get past our shields?"

"Oh, my ships good at that, she is." The Doctor patted the blue box proudly.

"That's a ship?" snorted Bones. "Looks like something from a museum."

"Oy, that hurts – you didn't hear me knock your ship, did you?"

"Actually –"

"Right then – who's next?" The Doctor stopped in front of the two black haired men as the one called Bones started to fluster. 

"Now wait just a goddamn minute –" he turned to the captain who was motioning men in red to stand back. They reluctantly complied, leaving their hands on the equipment strapped to their hips, obviously weaponry of some sort. "Aren't you going to do anything about this, 'Captain'?" he demanded with a snarl.

"Yeah, Bones, I am. He seems harmless enough at the moment; I want you and Spock to scan them and his – ship – and to do it quietly." Bones stopped short at the command from his Captain, looking a bit dumbfounded and sheepish at the same time.

"Oh, okay." He pulled something out and turned it on, trying to discretely point it at the visitors to scan as asked. Spock, his pointed ears catching the Captains' soft words looked up from his station in acknowledgement and back to the equipment he'd already been using.

"Showoff." Bones muttered. The Captain turned back to put his complete attention back on the visitors instead of leaving it divided. He knew he could trust his crew to tell him anything he needed to know.

"Flying a ship is one of the best things in the universe, isn't it?" The doctor was asking the Asian man. He turned to the other dark haired man, "So, what about you?"

"I'm Ensign Pavel Chekov, nawigator," he said proudly. The doctor grinned.

"Oooh, what an accent," he turned to Donna, "Did I ever tell you I love accents?" he turned back to Chekov. "Let me see, that's Russian, right?"

"Aye, sir –uh," the young man flustered, uncertain.

"No, no, just call me the Doctor. No need for titles." Donna laughed heartily as the Asian man and Chekov gave each other looks over that incongruity. Moving onwards, the Doctor headed towards Spock, who had once again straightened up. Spock raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Doctor.

"I see you are familiar with Earth culture?" Spock asked.

"Oh yeah, quite a bit actually. Been there looooads of times. I've had a chance to experience practically a little bit of everything by now."

"Remember Pompeii? Cor, that was a trip!" Donna mentioned.

"Ah, the Pompeii exhibit, founded on site in the 21st century, is a great study in early cultures…" Spock trailed off as the Doctor frowned and Donna laughed.

"Oh, that's too much! He thinks we saw something a simple as an exhibit!"

"But there is no exhibit at Pompeii on Earth. And you, sir, would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?"

"I am Commander Spock, 1st Officer."

"And a pain in my medical backside. I'm Dr. McCoy." He interrupted, holding out a hand. The Doctor shook it as Donna laughed yet again and said,

"Why's that? He's not an elf is he? I bet that would play havoc in medical circles."

"I am not an elf, I am Vulcan." Spock stated firmly but quietly.

"Only half Vulcan. He's half human too and that's what causes all the problems."

"Ooooh…." Donna nodded sagely.

"Right then, nice to meet you all, we have to be going now." The Doctor, so calm and relaxed seconds before, started rushing his companion back towards their Police Box.

"Wait, why? We've only just got here! We haven't even been exploring yet."

"No time to explain Donna, into the TARDIS, quick as you can." Donna planted herself and crossed her arms.

"Oy, Spaceman, I'm not budging a milli-meter until you tell me why."

"Don't argue with me Donna, we're running out of time." She glared at him. "What if I promise to bring you to the biggest mall in the universe, where you can get anything you like as long as it fits through that door?" Donna lit up.

"Oh yeah?" She asked as he got around her and opened the door. "How big are we talking?" She followed him inside.

"Planet sized. The whole planet actually." He was heard saying. She gave what could not be quite called a squeal as the door shut and the strange noise started all over again. As they faded out, the Captain snapped.

"Report! What did we get? Bones, you first. Were they human?"

"Uh…that's actually not so easy to answer, Jim. She was definitely humanoid of the Terran variety, but with some odd variations I can't account for – well within our norm, it's just that I've never seen them in that range before. He, on the other hand, while holding some of the same trace variation, is most definitely not human. In fact, we've never encountered anyone like him from the little I could tell from a measly hand scanner. I would have loved – I mean, needed a more in depth scan to be certain. But human he most definitely is not."

The Captain nodded and turned to his first officer as his medical officer finished. Spock stepped forward in anticipation, everyone obviously listening.

"Spock, how about his 'so called' ship? It looked like a plain wooden box to me."

"Scans were hard to tell as it resisted all probing, but if I am reading what little results I received correctly, the exterior was just a shell and was no more really wood than anything on this bridge."

"So it was camouflage?"

"Yes."

"But Spock, you can't believe their claim that it was a ship-it's too small! They landed it on the bridge for gods' sake!" Bones declared.

"Indeed, I am aware of that fact doctor. None the less, it was the vehicle they used to travel in. You, yourself, saw it appear."

"So maybe it wasn't really the ship, it was just a landing pod, like one of our shuttle crafts?" ventured the Asian man.

"That is not completely out of the realm of possibility, Mr. Sulu." Sulu beamed at the compliment and Chekov leaned over and whispered, "Nice job!"

"That still doesn't make sense – it couldn't be meant for long distance travel of any kind. There's just no room in there. Was there anything nearby?"

"Not that I am aware of, doctor."

'That still doesn't explain how they got inside our shields, Mr. Spock." The captain interjected finally.

"I am at a loss to explain how that was accomplished. Their ship," McCoy grunted at the statement but Spock continued on undeterred, "was surrounded by an energy field I did not recognize and the computer failed to analyze."

"So the long and short of it is, we just don't know?"

"That is correct."

"Then couldn't you have just said that?"

"I did, doctor."

The young, dark woman in red sighed. The Captain turned to her, "What's the matter, lieutenant?"

"Oh, nothing Captain, I just never got the chance to introduce myself and from the way they left, we likely won't be seeing them again."

***

In the meantime, in another circular room bearing no resemblance at all to the bright, clean and uncluttered bridge of the Enterprise, the Doctor and Donna stood around the center console and tower that dominated the impossibly large room.

"So, are you going to tell me now why you rushed us out of there so fast?"

"Because, Donna, if we had lingered there for too long, the TARDIS would have been completely cut off from her source of power."

Donna heaved in a deep breath, "Do you mean…to tell me… we could have been trapped there…forever!?"

"Eh…maybe, maybe not. Not really, okay possibly, well, I really just didn't want to take that chance. The TARDIS was an old model when I – uh – acquired her and we've been together for a looong time now. I really wasn't sure I could have pulled off the same trick twice."

"You mean this has happened before?" Donna's voice started to get a little shrill…

"Oh, just once, just once. Actually, still not sure how it happened the last time." He mused. 

"How what happened last time? Did the TARDIS lose power?"

"Another dimension, alternate realities, some have big differences, you know, others not so much. This one was big."

"But how did you know?"

"That it was an alternate reality? Because I'm a Time Lord and I know how history is supposed to unfold. But no worries now, we had enough power to leave before it was too late, so let's see where we are now."

"You promised a mall the size of a planet." She reminded him.

"I know what I promised, and you'll get it, never fear, but I needed to get us out of there first. Now, let me get my bearings." He pulled a screen over and looked at it. "Hmm…an empty and quite unremarkable white corridor with shiny black strips on the walls. I like shiny. Gives it that new ship feel. Well, let's go see!" He rushed back down to the door in just a couple of bounding steps. Donna followed, taken in again by his infectious curiosity.


	2. Part 2: We're Not In Kansas Anymore…Are we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back again - the Doctors return to his own dimension was not as successful as he thought it would be and now he seems to be stuck...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, these next 2 parts weren't originally going to happen. But somehow they did. If you're still reading - thanks! :D

Opening the door eagerly, the Doctor stepped out into the corridor and took a few steps down the unremarkable white corridor he'd seen on the view screen in the TARDIS before suddenly finding it was no longer an empty one. A trio of people in gold and black stood before him while another two moved in behind him, pointing what he took to be weapons at him and effectively cutting him off from Donna and the TARDIS. An alarm, sounding much like another he had heard just recently was repeating…

"Intruder alert. Intruder on Deck 9. Intruder alert."

"How did I miss that?" he muttered.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the darker man in the lead with strange looking furrows on his head. Donna had ground to a halt in the doorway of the TARDIS as she saw the Doctor apprehended. 

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?" He tried to edge around back to the TARDIS and called out to Donna during his failed attempts to maneuver, "Uh, Donna, can you hear me? We might have a problem – could you check if maybe the TARDIS might have, maybe, just maybe, you know… lost power, would you?"

"Oh no…you have got to be joking!" She called out, startling the men around the Doctor.

"Just do it, while I try to explain to the nice men that we didn't mean to land here."

"I find that hard to believe." Donna heard the growl from outside as she ran back to the console and tower noticing in a panic that there did seem to be a lessening of light throughout the TARDIS. By the time she reached the console, she could barely see it and she panicked, heading towards the only light source left – the open door.

"Oh no, Doctor, this is bad, very bad – she's dying! It's hopeless!"

"It's never hopeless, Donna, we'll make her well again and figure out how to get back home, somehow." The big man in front of the Doctor slowly lowered his weapon and spoke softer, but no less gruffly.

"You have a medical emergency?"

"We-e-ell," the Doctor kind of nodded his head back and forth, '"I don't think you'd call it that, anyway. Due to the nature of my ship, we've just done what amounts to a crash-landing and now we're stranded unless we figure out how to fix her. I presume you have regulations for helping travelers in distress?"

"Ah, yes. How many of you are there?" The dark man looked beyond the Doctor and his other men and over at the box behind them dubiously.

"Oh, just the two of us."

"Really?" he waved at the others to stand down. "I'll take you both down to sickbay to be checked over. The captain will meet us there, if you will follow me."

"Oh, we'll follow, but the checkup won't be necessary, I can assure you." He spoke up again, "C'mon Donna, we're going for a walk." As Donna came out, the big man tapped his chest, nodding over to the two men in back as he did so. They moved over and took positions on either side of the box as Donna closed and locked the door.

"Lieutenant Worf to bridge, I have apprehended the intruders and will bring them to sickbay."

"Very good lieutenant. Commander Riker and I will meet you there." Worf started walking, Donna and the Doctor following and the remaining two men fell in behind them. 

"Would your captain happen to be a blonde man in yellow?" Worf gave him a look and flatly answered,

"No."

"Ooooh, I feel like a dangerous prisoner or something. You better be sure about this spaceman!"

They followed Worf through the ship, down similarly unpreposing corridors, to turbo lifts and through wooshing doors finally opening into a room where they were greeted by three people: a woman with red hair in blue, a bald man in a red and black uniform and another man in red and black with a beard.

"So, these are our unexpected guests, eh Worf?"

"Aye, sir."

"Jean Luc, this is unbelievable! They are completely identical to the scans taken by the Enterprise crew over 90 years ago! These are the same people." The red haired woman said in disbelief as she walked forward and around them, her short, light blue lab coat flapping around her as she kept her eyes on the scanner.

"But how can that be, Doc? They haven't aged a day!"

"You're quite right about that, Will. The scans show no aging difference in the cells, so its' quite likely that very little time has passed for them at all."

"Time travel, Doc?"

"That's' not my area of expertise. I'll let you gentlemen figure that out. Also, if anyone cares, they're perfectly safe. I get no immediate health threats off either of them."

The Doctor pouted a bit. "Of course we're safe. You could have just asked me, you know. I'm standing right here after all!"

"Indeed you are, Doctor. My apologies. I'm Captain Jean Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise."

"The Enterprise! But it can't be the same ship! Doctor?" Donna turned and he nodded at her.

"Sorry Donna, but it is possible."

"But how?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Time travel, obviously." The Doctor said with a nod of acknowledgement and a grin over to the bearded man, "The TARDIS has a mind of her own, and she sometimes – rarely, but still – changes my travel plans for me."

"So, you're saying, that the TARDIS just decided to strand us in another dimension with no way home?"

"You make it sound so arbitrary! No, she always has a reason; we just have to figure it out. Hmm…" he said, as if that had made him realize something. "Ah, of course…that explains the first trip, why didn't I think of that before?" he muttered.

"Is your ship alive?" Picard inquired.

"Oh yeah, maybe not in the way other people would classify her, but most definitely."

"I hope for your sake that this is a mutual partnership?"

"Are you suggesting that I engage in the act of slavery?!" Offended now, the Doctor moved closer to Picard, setting off Worf who moved in to protect his Captain. "Humans." The Doctor snorted, staring Worf down, "Well, humanoid anyway, always thinking violence solves everything."

Captain Picard turned to the woman in medical blues, "Doctor, I think we're done here. I believe we're going to need to find a room to settle everyone down in for what may amount to a lengthy discussion as well as a lengthy stay." He turned to Riker. "Number one, if you will?"

"I'm already on it, Captain." He said, as he tapped his chest.

***

"So you're telling us that in your galaxy, you're a Time Lord and you travel through space and time in your living ship…doing what?"

"Just living, Captain. The TARDIS and I are the last of our kind and most of the time we just travel to see new things, meet new people. Knowing is quite a different thing from actually experiencing something for yourself."

"Quite agreed. It's what makes men explorers. But what about tampering with the past? If you travel in time so much, you could do irreparable harm."

"Not usually. Oh, well, suuure, little things could be changed just by being there, but you'd have to interfere in something major to do so much damage."

"Don't forget Pompeii, doctor." Donna prodded.

"What about Pompeii – you've been there?"

"I'll admit, that was a strange one. It turned out I had to be there to keep history intact. As a Time Lord I know all the fixed points in history that cannot or should not be changed, but I don't always know the how until I get there."

"This is very fascinating! We have time travel as well, discovered accidentally by James T. Kirk nearly 100 years ago and kept a close guarded secret by Starfleet, the practice of which is much discouraged. We've barely escaped some major catastrophes and if time is so forgiving, how do we keep messing up so badly?"

"Go-ood question, Captain. Well, I guess you've just been lucky so far. Really, how do you know things haven't been changed that just wasn't big enough to merit notice?"

"True." Picard paused. Riker took that opportunity to speak up,

"Doctor, would you mind if I asked your lovely companion on a tour of the ship?" Donna beamed at the compliment.

"Oh? No, I wouldn't mind, if Donna wants to go…" The Doctor answered offhandedly. Donna looked a little nervous but decided to go for it.

"Oh, why not! Just no funny business, mister!" she glared at Riker. The Captain chuckled as the two left and turned back to the Doctor.

"Now I have something else to ask you. Why did your companion seem so worried when Commander Riker offered to take her on a tour of the ship?" the Doctor looked a bit sheepish.

"We-e-ell, experience. I know I said we mostly just travel around, but uh…the truth is, er…that we seem to, um… I seem, to have a knack for landing us in trouble every time we stop. If it's not surviving Pompeii, it's freeing the Ood from slavery, or running away from the Vashta Nerata, or falling into a generations long war. And we always land right in the middle of it."

"Hmm…then I think perhaps your young lady friend has a quite understandable view of things. I just hope that doesn't bode ill for us."

"Oh, psh, I'm sure everything will be fine, captain!"

***

None the less, it was a very nervous Donna who was being escorted about the ship by Will Riker. As the tour went on, she finally managed to relax just as they reached their last stop, entering a pair of open doors to a room filled with tables and people, what could only be a bar, and a huge series of windows with a view of the starry field of space. She gravitated towards the window and Riker smiled. He guided her to a table right at the window and she sat.

"Now, I'll admit, the TARDIS is beyond belief but it doesn't have anything like this." She hesitated, "I think. Maybe it does and it's just not in the control room." Within a moment, a dark woman, very striking in her bright yellow, stopped at the table.

"Why hello, Commander. Won't you introduce me to your guest?"

"Ah, Guinan, this is Donna Noble of Earth. Donna, meet Guinan, our bartender of mystery." Guinan turned her smile on Donna, and then frowned.

"You don't belong here."

"Oh, what, I'm not good enough for this oh so fancy establishment?" Donna got huffy fast.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that. You're very welcome here."

"Guinan has this sense sometimes about things. You have to admit, in your case, she is right."

"Oh," Donna got red, "Oh, yeah."

"You knew already?"

"My apologies, Guinan, I wasn't even thinking of that when I offered to give our guest a tour of the ship."

"Apology accepted, then. So where are you from, Ms. Noble?"

"I'm from Earth. Well, my Earth, not your Earth, I guess, or something."

"Not my Earth either, actually. So, are we talking an alternate reality?" Guinan asked, looking at Riker who nodded back. She looked back at Donna. "That explains why you don't belong here. How did you get here, if you don't mind my asking?"

"No clue. The doctor whisked us off as usual and we landed here and couldn't leave. We tried, but it was already too late and our attempt only had us skip forward instead."

"Their ship no longer has power. Apparently the source is from their own universe, so we have to find an alternative that will last long enough to push them back. The Doctor will be meeting with Geordi and Data soon to see if there's anything we can do to help."

"Well, I wish you luck. Now, what can I get you two to drink?"


	3. Part 3: Of Knots and Holes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley's done it again...but it works out in the Doctors favor so who is he to complain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are at the end of this very short story - I hope you enjoyed the ride :D

Donna spent the next several weeks relaxing and getting bored out of her mind until Riker showed her the holo deck. After jabs at Riker for not including it on the original tour, she attempted to get the Doctor to check it out, but he was too busy reading through everything he could get his hands on. According to Geordi, the chief engineer or so she'd been told, the only one that could read faster than the Doctor was Data.

Out of all the crew, Donna felt herself drawn to Data. There was just something inside her that could relate to him and his quest to be human, so she did what she could to help which, she felt, wasn't much at all, but Data didn't seem to think so.

During one such a session with Data in the holo deck, the ship lurched violently and she was thrown to the ground. The holo deck flickered and cut out completely leaving only the black and yellow grid in its place. Data sprinted for the door after helping Donna up and she followed after. All over the ship, the power was dim.

"Oh, I knew this would happen, sooner or later, it always seems to come down to this." She muttered, though she didn't really sound all that upset.

They rounded a corner and only Data's fast reflexes kept her from colliding with the Doctor.

"Oy, spaceman! What did you do now?"

"Nothing! That was sooo not me!"

The ship shuddered again as the two of them followed Data to the bridge and Donna careened into a wall. The Doctor helped her up.

"All right?" he asked. She nodded. "That's great!" and he grinned as he resumed the chase. She couldn't help her laughter as his child like enthusiasm to finding out what the problem was and most likely being the hero. Again.

The doors of the turbo lift, which had had problems the whole way, finally opened on the bridge and Data headed for his station without a word.

"What are you two doing here?" The Captain demanded, caught short by their sudden appearance on the bridge. "Civilians are not allowed on the bridge during a time of crisis."

"We thought we could help."

"Very unlikely, Doctor. Kindly stay out of the way or you will be removed." The Captain said abruptly. 

"Well, I like that, putting you in your place." Donna mocked the Doctor. "What did you ever do?" Instead of answering her, the Doctor ignored her as he listened to the chatter around him and attempted to read screens without being noticed. That, he found, was the hard part. Thankfully, Data solved that problem.

"Captain, preliminary data coming in. Putting it on screen now." There were gasps around the bridge in contrast to Data's cool and calm voice as they saw the readout appear.

"Data, that's impossible. I want Geordi to check the short range scanners right now. If we were the heart of a black hole, surely we would be dead."

"I'm sorry sir, but that is what I am receiving."

"Riker to LaForge, Geordi check the sensors will you?"

"On it, Commander."

"Here's a thought," someone mentioned, "Where's young Ensign Crusher and why hasn't he responded to this emergency?"

"Oh no, Captain, you don't think –"

"I do indeed. Picard to Ensign Crusher, report."

At first, there was only static, such an odd occurrence on ship that even Data turned from his console to look at the Captain while he attempted to reach the ensign. While everyone was distracted, the Doctor took advantage of that to head over to the vacant console next to Data and start taking his own readings. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an oblong shape and was getting ready to point it at the console, but before he did he gave it a look and a sigh, with an "Oh, yeah, duh" kind of shrug, putting it away without a word. It didn't take long for Data to notice the Doctor, but instead of calling attention to it, Data started following the Doctors train of thought.

"Fascinating." He said, causing the Doctor to stop for a second and smile before returning to the screen. Behind them they could hear that the Captain had finally received an answer to his hail.

"Crusher here." 

"Report. Mr. Crusher."

"Ummm…Everything is under control, Captain. I'm in the process of shutting down right now."

"Another one of Wesleys' damn experiments. Why is no one watching that kid?" Riker shot a look over to the Captain.

"Agreed. The boy is too smart for his own good and he's way too impulsive. Mr. Data, if we survive this, I officially appoint you as supervisor to our young ensign – what are you two doing? Didn't I tell you to stay out of the way, Doctor?"

"I am out of the way. I didn't interrupt a single one of you –" 

"Which, I can assure you, is a miracle of epic proportions," said Donna.

"Oy!" he glared at Donna, then turned back to Captain Picard, "And as far as I could see, nobody was using this terminal."

"Regardless –"

"Captain, the Doctors viewpoint has been quite invaluable. Look at the screens now." Data tapped the console and the forward view screen changed again.

"What does it mean?"

"Captain, it means we can possibly solve two problems at once. That is, somehow, an artificially created black hole. Here at the eye of the storm – so to speak – we seem to have all the time in the world, but soon we'll start to break apart as that protection leaves us. Now, since it has no apparent, natural and self propagating source, I could possibly siphon off the energy from this facsimile black hole in a parody of another technique I learned in Galifrayen history and use it to power my TARDIS long enough to return to our proper place of origin, and at the same time, return that black hole to nothing, having exhausted its power and ending your crisis."

"As usual, spaceman, you pull through again! We're going home – Woo!"

"Well, that was the easy part. Now we have to set up a siphon and make sure whatever started that doesn't do it again!" the Doctor waved a hand vaguely over at the screen.

"Captain, I believe it could work." Data interjected.

"Do it."

"All right! Allonsee! Take me to this Wesley!"

"Oy, Doctor, before you leave me here, what do I do?"

"Get to the TARDIS and open it up, bring a communicator with you." And the Doctor ran off behind Data.

"Right, TARDIS. That's where from here again?"

"Mr. Worf, please escort Ms. Noble to her ship and provide communications for her. Let's get this expedited."

"Aye sir. Follow me, ma'am."

"Oh no, you will not be calling me ma'am. I am not somebody's mother!" her voice faded off as the two entered the turbo lift and the door closed on them. Silence and an occasional shudder ruled the bridge for a moment. Riker stepped closer for a private word to his captain.

"You know, if this succeeds, Deanna is going to regret not having met those two."

"Number one, I do believe you are right."

***

The Doctor rushed down the dim and flickering corridors behind Data who slapped open the door to a set of quarters, not bothering to buzz in or notify the occupant within, simply overriding the door protocol directly.

"You can do that?"

"Yes, but I normally restrain myself unless needs dictate that I must." They entered the room to be met with a wildly flickering light, blindingly bright at times and a frantic and impossibly young man rushing about a device sitting in the center of a table at the very center of the room.

"I promise I can shut it down! I had fail safes built in and I don't know why they won't respond, but I'm sure I'll figure it out! Just tell the Captain not to worry!"

"How much time do you estimate, Doctor?"

"Oh, I'd say about 20 minutes, give or take, before the eye contracts and crushes the ship."

"I concur. Wesley, you have 20 minutes to shut it down. In the meantime we will need to hook into your device to drain the power you've created to be used for his ship allowing it to drain away safely. Will you be able to shut it down at that time to prevent more power from being created?"

The Doctor poked at the machine while Data talked, causing Wesley to cry out and rush over, pushing him aside and frantically checking the machine over. "Don't touch that!"

"I see your problem. You have a feedback loop right here. Data, we can't disconnect without causing an explosion, we'll have to bring the TARDIS here and hook it up directly."

"Understood." Tapping his badge, "Data to Commander Worf, please arrange for the Doctors ship to be brought to Wesley's quarters as soon as possible."

"Make that yesterday!" the Doctor leaned over and yelled into Data's chest. Wesley was staring at the device and muttering.

"Of course, why didn't I see that?"

"Worf here, Data, ask the Doctor if we should attempt to use the transporter beam on his ship? Mr. O'Brien isn't sure if the beam will get a proper lock on it, but it's the fastest way to get it there."

"Oh that's easy! Tell this O'Brien fellow to knock his phase settings 3 shifts over and to add this harmonics sequence to the beam. It's like an authorization code – a key."

"Riker to Data, we're diverting power to the transporter. Will the hallway be close enough?" Data looked at the Doctor and raised an eyebrow.

"Brilliant, Commander, that should more than suffice."

The shuddering of the ship was growing more pronounced and the power fluctuations were getting more dramatic when a whine rose in the hall. Data rigged Wesley's door to remain open, not hard with power loss sweeping through the ship, and he and the Doctor, Donna and Worf started lugging around equipment and rigging things up. Wesley continued to set up his machine so that it could be shut down at the proper time.

"Oh, I think I have it. Yeah, if I rig this here, press that there, it should power down completely and stop generating the black hole!"

"Out of curiosity, what were you trying to do anyway?"

"I was trying to simulate a fraction of the power of a black hole, only without the devastating effects of a black hole, for its gravitational uses. Imagine if we could setup something like that in an asteroid field? We could create our own planets and terraform them! I got the idea from the anti gravity pads, but they just weren't strong enough."

"How long have you been working on this?" the Doctor asked as he worked. "That should be the last one," he told Donna, "Just attach that to the blue piece on the underside of the far left portion of the console."

"Got it!"

"Oh, for the last six months or so. I had to wait for all the parts to come in since I can't always get what I want from ships supply or the replicator. But I guess I failed. Mom's gonna kill me for this mess, and that's nothing to what the captain will do to me for endangering the ship…" Wesley said glumly.

"Doctor, the twenty minutes is almost up." Data interrupted.

"Oy spaceman, this is our chance and we're not blowing it!" The Doctor nodded at both of them and then turned back to Wesley, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't give up, Wesley. Just be more careful. You're going to do great things, brilliant!" Then he turned and ran off inside the TARDIS, catching the communicator Worf tossed him before he closed the door. Setting himself and Donna at the controls, he tapped the little badge.

"Right then, Data, 30 seconds and hit it from…Now!" A countdown appeared and started as he said now and he put the communicator down to get both hands on the controls. "Get ready, Donna, this is it. This is the pure, unaltered, life force of the universe – it's gonna get bumpy!" he grinned at her and she grinned back.

"I don't care, as long as it works!" 

"Ooooh yeah! Now as we discussed, with me – " both grabbed the controls in front of them "Allonsee!" they yelled in unison, yanking controls and levers all across the console, the Doctor occasionally kicking up a foot to snag just one more thing.

***

From the outside of the Police Box, Data activated his end with Wesley poised to shut off his experiment just as the power finished draining. The three watched in amazement as the TARDIS started fading in and out, the strange noise it made fading in and out with it until it finally vanished, leaving silence in its wake. Wesley acted quickly and succeeded in finally turning off his experimental black hole device. As he did so, lights and other ships functions returned to normal.

In the ensuing silence, Worf remarked: "I'll never complain about the transporter squeal again." Data turned and looked at him.

"I don't recall you ever complaining about it, lieutenant."

"Must have only been in my head then."

"I wonder if they made it back home?" Wesley mused.

"We'll probably never know." Data replied. Tapping his badge, "Data to bridge. Everything is now under control and our two guests have vanished without a trace."

"Good work. I want everyone in the briefing room in an hour. That includes Mr. Crusher. Picard out."

"Oooh, I'm dead meat…" came the answering groan everyone on the bridge heard quite clearly. Riker smiled grimly. This would be an interesting chewing out.

***

And in the TARDIS, they finally landed with a thump and a final whine. Donna had been thrown to the floor and up against the rail and the Doctor ran to help her up.

"All right, let's see where we are!" They both ran to the monitor to peer out. Seeing an old man at the top of a hill with a telescope, Donna let out one of those not quite a squeal sounds and turned, hugging the Doctor, before running out the door, letting it slam behind her. The Doctor followed at a much more sedate pace as he patted the TARDIS console first.

"Good job old girl. Another fine run we managed together and another disaster averted. You should be proud of yourself." He smiled and walked out, missing her answering glow.


End file.
